Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has accused Sir Keir Starmer’s “far-left” Labor Party of meddling in the US election.
The Trump-Vance campaign filed a complaint with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) accusing Labor of illegal foreign campaign donations.
In a statement, campaign co-leader Susie Wiles Campaign claimed: “The far left Labor Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric.
“In recent weeks, they have recruited and sent party members to campaign for Kamala in critical battleground states in an attempt to influence our election.”
The complaint referred to a Washington Post report that suggested “strategists linked to Britain’s Labor Party have offered advice to Kamala Harris on how to win back disaffected voters and run a winning centre-left campaign”.
It also mentioned one Daily Telegraph report that suggested Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, his communications director, “attended a rally in Chicago and met with Ms Harris’s campaign team”.
The complaint also cited a now-deleted LinkedIn post by Sofia Patel, Labour’s chief operating officer, who wrote that “nearly 100” current and former Labor staff would travel to the US to help elect Ms Harris.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue that such support amounts to “contributions” from foreign actors, in violation of US campaign finance laws.
However, there is no evidence that the Labor Party had made financial contributions to the Democrats’ campaign. The Labor Party was contacted for comment.
Sir Keir and Trump met for the first time last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where he and the former republican president shared a two-hour dinner.
Sir Keir said at the time that it was up to the American electorate to decide who their next leader would be, insisting: “We will work with whoever is president.”
Trump said of Sir Keir: “I’m going to see him in about an hour so I have to be nice. I think he’s very nice actually.
“He ran a great race, he did very well. It’s very early, but he’s popular. It’s very early, but I want to send you my regards.”
Last week, UK Employment Secretary Alison McGovern hinted that Labor staff would travel to the US to help elect Ms Harris.
She told Sky News: “As far as I know this is a voluntary thing and it’s about volunteers going and sharing their time.
“It’s a normal thing that happens in elections. This is not the first time that Labor staff have traveled to the US during the presidential election to campaign for the Democratic candidate.”
The Federal Election Commission is an independent agency of the U.S. government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections, according to its website.
Sir Keir, the leader of the British Labor Party and the British Prime Minister, won the British general election in July earlier this year after more than a decade with the Conservative Party in power.